The introduction of fish to the Scandinavian mountains by hunter-fisher-gatherers 5000 BC

Abstract

Deglaciation of the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet ( c . 8000 BC) opened the mountainous areas of inland southern Norway for human habitation, but topographic barriers prevented the migration of fish into upland watercourses. Dates from four fish traps found in the exposed bed of Lake Tesse, within the central mountainous region of Norway, are reported here, with the earliest (at around 5000 BC) indicating that Mesolithic hunter-fisher-gatherers were exploiting fish that could have been present within the lake only through human-mediated introduction. These results help illuminate an early example of environmental management, and perhaps even a form of food production, among hunter-fisher-gatherers.